Friday

Well, it actually is Friday now!  The real Friday, the one with Saturday following close behind.  Not only that, but the Friday that precedes the weekend that includes the Super Bowl and then the start of our our mini-vacation.  THAT FRIDAY!!!   Once Bryce finishes up his Pre-Algebra our mini break begins.

Mini-vacation you say?!  Yep....we have not taken a real break for over a year.  Our weekends are filled with church doings, hospital visits, sermon prepping, car fixing, but no break and we, actually, my husband, needs ....I mean...he really needs a break!  So, we are taking off....running away....turning off the phones and disappearing for a few days. All of us except Bonnie.  She can't afford to miss any class time so she will stay here.

I feel awkward doing this during the school week, but experience has told us that it won't really hurt Brian's grades.  In fact, he has already completed all of his geometry assignments that his teacher gave him.  Everything else will be made up at school.  Bryce and I worked hard the past two days getting all of his co-op assignments completed so that he doesn't have to do anything over our mini-vaca but have fun.  And we intend to have lots of fun and relaxation.

So....let the break begin...hurry up, Bryce, and get your work done!

Youth Group Fun

I found a cool activity for youth group on Pinterest the other day.  Isn't Pinterest great?!   I love it.  Anyway, the activity is this...you gather up all kinds of candy/treats....I got a bunch of Valentine candy....some heavy duty plastic packaging wrap (not Saran), packaging tape, bubble wrap, and a jingle bell toy.   First, you take the jingle bell toy, and wrap it up with bubble wrap creating a ball.   The jingle bell makes the ball sound cool while your working with it.  (I just wrapped up some jingle bells and they don't jingle so well anymore so I would get a ball with a jingle bell inside it).  Next, place a piece of candy on the bubble wrap and secure it with the packaging plastic wrap.  Don't cut the plastic, just keep wrapping and adding candy.  Periodically, secure the wrap with packaging tape.  Not because it needs it but you want to make it harder to unwrap.  I wrapped the ball several times before adding the next piece of candy.  Eventually, you will end up with a large, basketball size of candy.  

Now here is the game.  Have the kids sit in a circle.  Give one person the ball, and the person next to them a pair of dice.  When you say "go" the person with the ball tries to tear through the plastic to reach the candy, at the same time, the person with the dice is rolling the dice as fast as they can trying to get a pair of numbers (2's or 6's....you get the idea).  As soon as the dice roller gets a pair the ball ripper has to pass the ball to the next person and the dice roller passes the dice to the next person and so on.  The ball ripper gets to keep whatever candy they unearthed.  To make the activity even more challenging you can have the ball ripper wear gloves.  It sounds like fun...we will find out tonight if it really is.

Tuesdays Have Become Our Fridays

Tuesday is becoming our "D Day" around here as it is the day before co-op when we have to finalize all of our papers and make sure we are ready for class.  Bryce had two papers to complete, as well as finish up all of his questions and answer sheet and prep for his Civics quiz.  Bryce likes Wednesdays not only because he likes going to class, but I don't require him to do a whole work load.  I figure after attending his Literature, Civics and Wilderness classes he has completed enough.  Besides that, his Lit. teacher does have work scheduled for Wednesday so after lunch he completes his daily lesson to round out the day, but he doesn't have to do math or science. 

This past week was one of our first normal weeks in a while.  The last two weeks we have had several interruptions that made it hard to get everything done school wise.  I actually feel good about how our week is going so far.  We have hit all of the academic bases.  We have even added gym time back into our schedule.  We aren't going at five in the morning though.  I just can't get motivated to get out of bed right now, so we have decided that no matter what, we hit the gym at two in the afternoon and then finish up any schooling we still have after our gym time.  I am sooooo out of shape right now.  My legs feel like dead weights when I step on to the elliptical but when my time is up I feel good.  The big thing I notice is that I get a second wind for the rest of the day when before I was ready for a nap.

So, tomorrow we finish up our school week, and start a "new" week on Thursday.

State of the Union

For the first time ever, I actually sat and watched the State of the Union address.  I also made Bryce watch it with me since he is studying how our government works.  The big thing I wanted to accomplish was for him to train his ear to hear those "red flags", key phrases, and false information that may or may not be presented.  

It was interesting because we had just read an article earlier in the day about what the true role of our government is, and it is NOT to set up programs to meet everyone's special interest.  Our federal money is not to be used for every little program but it is to be used to protect us.  For so long our politicians and president strove to remind congress of that, but with the passing of the federal income tax and Roosevelt's New Deal we have lost sight of our governments role.   Today, government is stepping further and further into our private lives and taking over so many of our individual freedoms.  I cringed as I heard Communistic doctrine presented to the Congress and they stood and cheered.  I cringed as I heard how the government was stepping in to provide child care for our babies and preschooler praying that they don't try to mandate it for my grand babies.  I don't believe at all in the statics that were presented to support climate change, that our economy is doing better, etc.  I would like to ask of all the jobs that have been created how many our full time with benefits, as Obamacare has made it so that employers are offering more part time jobs instead of full.  

My heart is heavy.  I feel oppressed by my country.  As we venture to build a house this summer, there are so many regulations forced upon us and I am not talking about housing codes, but where and how we landscape our property.  There are so many people watching every minute thing you do and are quick to report every minor infraction whether or not you even know those regulations exist.  You think I am making this stuff up?  Someone reported that we were burning wood in our woodstove last winter during a "suggested no burn" time.  Mind you, if you don't watch the news or read the paper you would not even know about the no burn.  But here is the other point, it was a suggestion, not a requirement, and yet, we got a notice in the mail that we were harming the environment.  Or how about the woman who came on the property and ripped out my in -laws pump because she assumed it was harmful to the fish,  or the woman who reported on the major who was removing rocks that slid into the creek and thought he was disrupting the habitat of the fish....I could give you more....what does this have to do with our Presidents speech.   Our Presidents speech was full of more and more government involvement, more regulations, more infringements on my freedom.   

Sigh.... 

S

 

Snow and Ice

 It's Ice Fest weekend here, and unlike last year, we actually have snow and ice.   Lots of snow.  About a foot of snow.  It's awesome.

 The boys and I headed downtown to check out the activities which include ice sculpting, snow sculpting,

 and snow tricks by the Stevens Pass skiers and snowboarders.

Today, the Ice Fest continued with more festivities, mainly watching the Seahawks game at various venues, a chili cook off and finally fireworks. 

I know I have already posted today but I have a free hour or two so I thought I would jot down a few more thoughts.  This is my afternoon to do home health care for a couple in our church.  I come in for a few hours twice a month to give the husband a chance to get out of the house and run errands or go to doctors appointments.   The wife is in her 80's, and while she is physically fine, she checked out of life after her daughter and granddaughter died in a car accident.  For the most part, she just sits in her chair and stares at the paper or magazine.  I try to talk with her but she only responds to yes or no questions, so generally, I just ramble on about my kids, the weather, or my dreams.  I keep myself busy by cleaning the house, fixing her dinner, and then just read or blog, like now.  Oh, I also keeping busy answering game show questions since the Game Show Network is always on. Ha...ha...  It is nothing glamorous and it makes me appreciate my parents health and energy all the more.  I know that with the house we plan to build, we hope to include a space for my in-laws to live in so that we can take care of them in their frail years.  I hope my experiences here will make me a better care giver.

 

Blackout Night

It was Blackout Night in AWANA last night.  Bryce and I had a lot of fun getting ready for it.  Generally, Blackout Night is a night when most of the lights are off in the church and the kids get around by flashlight and such.  Over the past few years, I have tried to add more to it.  Generally, I get all of the clubbers glow in the dark necklaces and coordinate them to their color team.  I have had glow in the dark balls and batons to use during game time as well.  This year we added Black Lights to the mix.  Bryce and I took out all the light bulbs in the front lobby and replaced them with black lights.  We also  covered up all of the windows and doors making the room really cool.  Everything white or neon glowed and gave off a cool affect when the kids showed up to check in.  I also purchased a Party Light for the game room.  You know, one of those balls covered in different colors of light that rotates and puts colors of light all over the ceiling and wall.  The kids seemed to really like it.  We had fun too.  Our next theme night is Trauma Night.  The kids get to dress up like they have had some sort of trauma..you know....head injury...broken arm or leg....crutches ....slings...bandages.....ok, you get the picture.  Can't wait!